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savvyliterateSo, I happened to check Twitter and a well-known tech blogger (an admitted DINK) I follow that I used to work with tweets the following: "Joy. The woman next to me has an infant in her arms and two more are behind me. Swear to god, if she tries to breast feed I'm bitching." She's on a plane flying from Georgia to NYC.
That royally pissed me off.
I get the child-free movement, I really do. I understand people complaining about kids who are out of control and the parents who fail to control them because that royally pisses me off as well. But, seriously, complaining about a mother with an infant who might need to feed said child during a flight? That's just wrong. So what if a mother chooses to breast feed her child on an airplane because the baby is hungry? It's not like she wouldn't cover herself up because most people will do so. It's not like the baby has a choice of when he/she is hungry. If you're going to bitch about something, I wrote back to her, bitch about something other than that.
It hits a nerve because I know in a couple of years that I will be that mother. I'll be the one with an infant in my arms stuck on an airplane flying to see said future baby Heaton's grandparents because flying is the only way we can get there (well, other than cruise ship and that would take way too long.) The baby will most likely be miserable, I'll probably be beyond exhausted myself trying to care for the child, and the last thing I need is someone self-righteous griping over the fact that my child is hungry and I'll be trying to feed him or her even though thanks to things such as blankets, you'll probably see less of my body than the woman wearing a halter top and cutoffs a couple rows over.
I respect anyone who chooses not to have a child, just like I hope they respect my decision to have one. Likewise, I will do whatever is possible to make sure my child isn't being a holy terror and respect the public space of the people around me who do not care for children, and that includes being discreet about things such as breast feeding. But, if future baby Heaton is hungry on the Harrisburg to Manchester flight, then yes, I am going to feed my baby.
That royally pissed me off.
I get the child-free movement, I really do. I understand people complaining about kids who are out of control and the parents who fail to control them because that royally pisses me off as well. But, seriously, complaining about a mother with an infant who might need to feed said child during a flight? That's just wrong. So what if a mother chooses to breast feed her child on an airplane because the baby is hungry? It's not like she wouldn't cover herself up because most people will do so. It's not like the baby has a choice of when he/she is hungry. If you're going to bitch about something, I wrote back to her, bitch about something other than that.
It hits a nerve because I know in a couple of years that I will be that mother. I'll be the one with an infant in my arms stuck on an airplane flying to see said future baby Heaton's grandparents because flying is the only way we can get there (well, other than cruise ship and that would take way too long.) The baby will most likely be miserable, I'll probably be beyond exhausted myself trying to care for the child, and the last thing I need is someone self-righteous griping over the fact that my child is hungry and I'll be trying to feed him or her even though thanks to things such as blankets, you'll probably see less of my body than the woman wearing a halter top and cutoffs a couple rows over.
I respect anyone who chooses not to have a child, just like I hope they respect my decision to have one. Likewise, I will do whatever is possible to make sure my child isn't being a holy terror and respect the public space of the people around me who do not care for children, and that includes being discreet about things such as breast feeding. But, if future baby Heaton is hungry on the Harrisburg to Manchester flight, then yes, I am going to feed my baby.
